1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a muzzle brake for firearms and more particularly to a muzzle brake for firearms that decreases the amount of noise perceived by a shooter of the firearm.
2. Background Information
When a high-powered rifle is fired, the gas that propels the projectile out of the end of the firearm rapidly expands upon discharge from the firearm. This rapid expansion of gases produces a recoil, which is forced back towards the shooter. This recoil force can be quite severe, especially in high-powered rifles, and may result in pain, discomfort, and fatigue to the shooter. To reduce these side effects, xe2x80x9cmuzzle brakesxe2x80x9d are used to lessen this recoil force.
Most muzzle brakes comprise an attachment placed on the muzzle end of a firearm to reduce recoil by redirecting and dissipating propellant gases radially away from the direction of the barrel of the firearm through a series of openings within the attachment. This dispersion of the propellant gases diffuses the amount of gas that rapidly expands and lessens the recoil force felt by the shooter. However, in deflecting gas away from the end of the barrel, some of the gas impinges upon the surfaces of the muzzle brake itself and are reflected back towards the shooter. This increased reflection of gases increases the amount of sound energy directed towards the shooter, and results in the shooter perceiving more noise from a gun equipped with a muzzle brake than from the same gun without the muzzle brake. For this reason, firearms equipped with conventional muzzle brakes often sound much louder to the shooter than the same firearm without a muzzle brake. Hence, one must choose between either increased recoil force or increased noise in order to operate the firearm. Therefore, what is needed is a muzzle brake that functions to reduce the recoil force felt by the shooter without a substantial increase in noise perceived by the shooter.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to reduce the recoil force felt by a shooter upon discharge of a firearm in a manner that is significantly quieter than existing muzzle brakes.
Additional objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description as follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
The present invention is a muzzle brake device for reducing recoil while limiting noise perceived by a shooter upon the discharge of a firearm having a muzzle. This muzzle brake is made up of a cylindrically shaped body having a first end adapted for attachment to the muzzle of the gun. The muzzle brake body has an outer surface extending from the first end to a second end along a generally longitudinal axis. At least one opening, having a longitudinal dimension greater than a lateral dimension, extends from the outer surface to a central bore. This central bore is located in a generally central portion of the body and extends through the body along a longitudinal axis. These openings allow gases and sounds to be dissipated away from the central bore. The increased longitudinal component of the openings facilitates the dispersion of gases away from the central bore and reduces the amount of noise that would be perceived by the shooter. In addition to the elongated openings, noise is further reduced by the presence of an internal chamber within the body. This internal chamber is located about the central bore in a location generally between the first end and a first opening. This internal chamber has a diameter generally greater than the diameter of the central bore and allows for partial expansion of the gases as they pass through the chamber and are directed by reflection towards the openings. In a preferred embodiment, the end of the chamber near the openings has a tapered frustoconically shaped second edge that further facilitates passage of the gas out of the device through the openings, without reflection.
In use, the invented muzzle brake is attached to the end of a muzzle of a firearm. When the firearm is discharged, the projectile passes out of the muzzle of the firearm and through the bore of the invented muzzle brake. As the projectile passes through the muzzle brake, the gases partially expand in the inner chamber and are reflected off of the walls of the inner chamber toward the openings in the muzzle brake. The elongated dimension of the openings facilitates the dispersion of the gases away from the muzzle brake and decreases the amount of gas that impacts against the outer surface. This reduction in impact against the outer surface reduces the amount of noise perceived by the shooter when using this muzzle brake as compared to other muzzle brakes.
Still other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in this art from the following detailed description wherein I have shown and described only the preferred embodiment of the invention, simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated by carrying out my invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of modification in various obvious respects all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description of the preferred embodiment are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.